Forest's response to council's smoke free children's parks policy
Monday, August 1, 2016 at 9:04 I was disappointed a week ago when the Sheffield Star published a report about the council launching a campaign to ban smoking in the city's play areas without a single dissenting voice.
We got in touch, the paper invited us to comment, and the result is published today under the headline Sheffield smokefree playground campaign an ‘abuse of public money’ says lobby group Forest.
Credit to the Star and reporter Alex Moore.
Prior to this I don't think Alex was aware that Forest (or a group like Forest) existed. Fair play to him – and his news editor – for offering some balance.
Meanwhile the campaign by singer-songwriter Annie Dressner for the government to introduce legislation to 'make smoking in and near children's parks and playgrounds against the law' appears to have stalled.
After feverishly tweeting the likes of Adele, Taylor Swift and Katie Price in the hope of getting their support, Annie's last campaign tweet was on July 19.
Meanwhile her petition – launched on July 1, four days after she finished recording her new album – currently has 2,889 signatures, a meagre number given the publicity she briefly enjoyed.
Reader Comments (4)
I really do think that open-air smoking bans are a bit too draconian even for the majority of non-smokers. It seems that the only people who are keen on them are dyed-in-the-wool anti-smokers who would actually like smoking to be banned, everywhere. Even those few non-smokers I know who supported the indoor ban in principle before it came in (although many have gone off it a bit now that the reality of it is here with us) feel that outdoor bans are (and I quote, verbatim) “Just stupid,” “Outrageously interfering,” “Completely over the top,” and “Barking – what are they going to ban next?” And I think that many newspapers are finally starting to realise that this is a common view amongst many of their non-smoking readership and are thus starting to respond with rather more balanced articles. Which is good news for us on the receiving end of these unfair proposals – rather less good news for you, Simon, because it means that you will probably become even busier than you already are!
I will ignore all these bans. I will not be dictated to if i want to smoke in a public park.
This outdoor ban is designed to "change the social norms" according to a council member. That is it is social engineering aimed at denormalising smoking. The lies about second hand smoke are no longer necessary to force these draconian bans. Bravo to Forest for presenting a dissenting opinion.
I pay my council tax to have my bins emptied and not to collude in "changing the social norms"